Idlib, Latakia and Homs are included in the safe zones, as well as parts of Aleppo.

Under the memorandum, any fighting between government forces and armed opposition will cease within the safe zones.

Daesh, al-Nusra and other affiliated terrorist organizations are not included in the agreement.

The planned de-escalation zones will be closed to the US-led coalition’s aviatio

An official source at Foreign and Expatriates Ministry announced on Wednesday that in light of the Syrian Arab Republic’s commitment to preserve the lives of the Syrian people and stop the bloodshed, and based on its readiness to agree on all that would help the Syrian people return to their normal life as much as possible, activating and reinforcing the Syrian economy, and raising the living standard of citizens who suffered from the war imposed on Syria, and in line with its assertion on the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, the Syrian Arab republic supports the Russian initiative on the de-escalation zones and stresses commitment to the cessation of hostilities agreement signed on December 30th, 2016 including not shelling those regions.

In this regard, Syria affirms the continuation of the Syrian Arab army, the allied and backup forces in their war against terrorism and the fight against ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra and other affiliated terrorist organizations wherever they were all over the Syrian territories.

Russian Presidential Envoy for Astana talks Alexander Lavrentyev affirmed on Friday that the planned de-escalation zones in Syria will be closed to the US-led coalition’s aviation.

He stressed that the US-led coalition’s “actions in the de-escalation zones, starting from now those zones are closed for their flights.” He added that the flight ban was not part of the memorandum establishing the safe zones, but assured the coalition would not fly over them……………..

Head of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation to the Astana meeting Bashar al-Jaafari said on Monday that the meeting aims at fixing the cessation of hostilities except for the areas where terrorist organizations are active.

In a statement at the opening of Astana meeting on Monday, Al-Jaafari asserted that herds of Takfiri terrorists were gathered, trained, financed, armed, and brought across the borders with the neighboring countries.

“Astana hosting the intra-Syrian meeting represents the mediation policy and the openness of Kazakhstan, and is the fruit of the joint efforts exerted by several parties, particularly the Russia and Iran, with the aim of fixing the decision of cessation of hostilities all over Syria except for the areas where terrorist organizations such as ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra and others which rejected to join the agreement are active,” he said.

“Syria which we love is the homeland of diversity in all its forms, a homeland where the Syrians believe in the basis and principles of their independent democratic secular state based upon political pluralism, the rule of law, independence of the judiciary system, equality among citizens in rights and duties, guaranteeing cultural and social variety among all spectrum of the Syrian people, as well as maintaining the continuation of the work of the state institutions,” he said.

Al-Jaafari pointed out that: “al-Nusra is using water as a military tool, and since it is identified by the UN as a terror organization, al-Nusra cannot be defended, and the military operation against the terrorists depriving the people of Damascus from drinking water cannot be considered a breach of negotiations”…………………

On Sunday, a meeting between the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic, headed by UN-diplomat Bashar al-Jaafari, and Russian delegation, headed by Alexander Lavrentiev has started.

Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said that Astana meeting is considered part of the general efforts exerted for solving the crisis in Syria.

He added that the atmosphere ahead of Astana meeting tomorrow is very positive, pointing out that the preparations are concentrated for convening the meeting.

Head of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation to Astana meeting, Bashar al-Jaafari said the meeting will focus mainly on firmly establishing lines of the cessation of hostilities and separating the terrorist organizations of ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra from other armed groups that joined the cessation of hostilities.

“There is a schedule and an agenda for the meeting with its major aim focused on a set of points, which are firmly establishing the lines of the cessation of hostilities, separating terrorist groups such as ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra from other groups that have agreed to the cessation of hostilities or those who agreed to go to [Astana] meeting and reaching common denominators regarding the fight against terrorism,” said al-Jaafari.

“Turkey is a state that has been violating the Syrian sovereignty, providing assistance to the terrorist groups and impeding the peaceful solution. As for us, there is no Syrian-Turkish dialogue at the government level,” said al-Jaafari……………..

Although Russia has been absent from the international scene since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and although it is moving with care, it has just created a Russo-Syrian Commission, has begun supplying weapons, sharing intelligence, and sending advisors.

Six Mikoyan-Gourevitch MiG-31’s were delivered. These planes are the best interceptors in the world. They can not be used in operations concerning the maintenance of law and order, but only for national defence, in this case, possible incursions by Israël or Turkey. Under various pretexts, these two states acted many time during the war to support the jihadists whenever they were in difficulty.

The 30th January 2013, Tsahal bombed the Centre for Military Research in Jemraya, under the pretext of destroying weapons that were destined for Hezbollah.
In fact, the attack was intended to destroy a communications brief-case captured by the Syrian Arab Army, containing NATO satellite data, before they were able to decipher it.
The operation had been commanded by the Israeli Air Force in coordination with the FSA (Fake Syrian Army), which in turn was directed by officers of the French Foreign Legion under the supervision of NATO’s LandCom.

Simultaneously, and for the first time, the Russian army has just supplied satellite images to Syria. This decision, awaited for five years, inverses the military situation.

It is quite obvious that Russia cannot substitute the West, and in particular European countries, with someone else. It is impossible for historical and cultural reasons, the abundance of industrial relations, geographical proximity and so on.

Moscow can however substantially weaken such dependency through the strengthening of political, military, financial and economic relations with other countries which are friendlier and less susceptible to pressure from Washington. Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) holds a special place amongst countries friendly to the Russian government, and strategic dialogue is being actively developed with it.

It should be mentioned that the visit to Moscow at the end of January 2015 by the special representative, the foreign policy adviser of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Akbar Velayati, was highly valuable to the development of Russian-Iranian relations.

Cooperation on regional security is not of lesser interest, especially in view of prolongation and intensification of crises in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. Positions of Moscow and Tehran coincide on the majority of aspects. They are particularly interested in the restriction of American, Saudi Arabian and to some extent Turkish activities.

This allows to raise the matter of Moscow and Tehran creating new security systems in the Near and Middle East, Central Asia and South Caucasus. The distinguishing factor is that the said systems of regional security will be founded on a non-bloc basis and consideration of the interests involved in this process states.

Militants from the terrorist group “Islamic State” (DAESH-ISIS) are already trying to sneak into Tajikistan and could destabilize the entire Central Asia. On April 2, the Foreign Ministers of member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) discussed how to counter this threat at a meeting in Dushanbe. According to “Kommersant”, Russia is ready to allocate to Tajikistan the military-technical assistance in the amount of 70 billion rubles.

A program of joint modernization of the armed forces of Tajikistan, Moscow and Dushanbe was signed in the summer of 2014, but until now the volume of allocated funds was not known. As “Kommersant” had learned, Russia is ready to provide Tajikistan with military-technical assistance worth about 70 billion rubles in the coming years (about $1.23 billion at current exchange rate). This information was confirmed by sources in the General Staff of the Russian Federation.

Growing numbers of Central Asian citizens, male and female, are travelling to the Middle East to fight or otherwise support the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIL or ISIS, Daesh).

Recruitment to the extremist cause is happening in mosques and namazkhana (prayer rooms) across the region. The internet and social media play a critical but not definitive role. The radicalisation of women is often a response to the lack of social, religious, economic and political opportunities afforded to them in Central Asia. Economic reward is not a motivation for those drawn to IS-controlled territory. For some, it is a personal adventure; for others it is a call to arms. Many find themselves providing support services to more experienced fighters from the Caucasus or Arab states.

Ethnic Uzbeks, including citizens of Uzbekistan, are most numerous among the Central Asians with the Islamic State, but Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Turkmen and Tajiks are also well represented. Some are recruited at home; others are radicalised abroad, often as migrant workers. The problem is acute in southern Kyrgyzstan, where the risks are amplified by the alienation of the Uzbek community since the violence in Osh in 2010.

NOTICE TO READERS

These infos are not intended to be shocking or to glorify violence in any way. These articles/images/videos are for educational purposes only, for documenting and try to explain the backdrop of a historical ruthless and bloody war, whose characteristics and details are routinely distorted and smothered by the dominant media.